Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Lecture on Nineteenth-Century Cohabitation and the Law

"Moral Marriage, Mistresses and Mayhew:
Cohabitation and the Law in Nineteenth-Century England"

Speaker: Rebecca Probert, School of Law, Warwick University

Date and Time: 07 May 2008, 18:00 - 19:00

Description: This paper examines the prevalence of, and legal and social attitudes to, cohabitation in nineteenth-century England. It challenges the conventional understanding that cohabitation was popular in the eighteenth century and declined in the nineteenth, arguing that the reverse was in fact the case, and that cohabitation was associated with urbanisation and industrialisation. It then goes on to discuss how the legal system treated cohabitants who came before the courts, noting how this depended on the legal context of the case rather than the nature of the relationship.

Venue : Institute of Advanced Legal Studies; University of London; Charles Clore House; 17 Russell Square; London WC1B 5DR